Second Chance
by Invader-Hime
Summary: Takes place during the "War of the Worlds" Season 2 finale. Darkstar's disappearance during the events of the Highbreed invasion wasn't a coincidence or an accident.


Second Chance

By Invader-Hime

Cold, feathery snowflakes were still peacefully fluttering down as if nothing terribly out of the ordinary had happened. Other than snow in the desert. In the summer.

Which, given all that had actually happened, wouldn't have seemed strange at all.

The last of the DNAlien hordes were being rounded up and reverted to their human selves.

Darkstar had been a little rougher than necessary with a lot of them. Between shooting them with the technopath's invention, draining them of mana...and kicking a few of them while they were down, he'd managed to direct his anger at someone other than the Plumbers. It kept his mind off of what he'd been denied at the request of the bearer of the Omnitrix. He'd actually obeyed an order...and inside he burned at the disparity that the self-appointed leader had showed. He'd favored enemies over a member of his own team. Granted, said member of his own team had been antagonistic towards him and his family on more than one occasion....but the past was the past, wasn't it? They were all in this together...to save the Earth...weren't they?

No.

No, because he wasn't a hero.

Not really.

He made people uncomfortable. Many had good reason to be. That's why he stood apart from them...so as not to antagonize them more than necessary. He'd agreed to help them in exchange for his freedom...which he was beginning to doubt they would honor...because at the end of the day, he wasn't like them. He couldn't be...couldn't afford to be. It just wasn't in him...and that made him a liability.

He gave another sharp kick to a limp human arm, just because.

"You're still here?"

Darkstar almost jumped. In a flash, two spheres of dark energy glowed around his fists and little specks of it fluttered off and disappeared into the air. He tensed and swirled around to find himself faced with...an old man.

"Have you come to do their dirty work? Come to put me back in the Void?" he asked. His heart hammered in panic, practically slamming into his ribcage at the thought.

The man smiled warmly.

"Should I?" he asked, humorously. His blue eyes sparkled.

Darkstar's heart burned with rage, though he kept it to himself.

"Probably," he stated dryly, trying to sound like he didn't care one way or the other.

"You helped my grandchildren save the world and all you can say is that I probably should put you in the Null Void?" he asked, voice warm, gentle.

"You must be Max Tennyson. I've heard a lot about you...and yes, I did. So what?" Darkstar asked, sounding slightly defensive, despite his best efforts to maintain nonchalance.

The dark energy still flickered and hummed around his fists.

"Well...I think you should get out of here before they come back from space," the old man stated.

Darkstar blinked.

"What?" he inquired, somewhat flabbergasted.

The old man sighed.

"I said I think you should go. Get away from here, keep yourself scarce for awhile. Try to do things differently this time,"

"Why? What do you have to gain from letting me go?" Darkstar wasn't used to anything other than manipulation, and he was suspicious of anyone offering assistance. Even the heroes had only let him out to help them repel the Highbreed invasion.

"I don't have anything to gain from it, only you do. I'm giving you a second chance, boy, but I can't make you take it,"

Darkstar's legs tensed, ready to spring out of the way...ready to run if the old man tried anything.

"Why do you care? I thought you Plumbers liked to shove things in there. It keeps you from having to deal with them," Darkstar snapped.

Max sighed again.

"You've given up already, have you?" he asked.

"I'm being realistic. Today hasn't gone anything like I thought it would. I thought I'd still be dodging monsters, but I'm not. I helped save the world. I thought I'd get my life back! I thought they'd respect that! But they didn't! So why should I trust you to keep your word at all?" Darkstar snapped.

"Maybe you shouldn't, but I'm still letting you go. I'd go West, if I were you, and take a back road back to town. That way, when they drive back, they won't run into you. I'll tell them you ran away and I didn't see which way you went. Look. I'll even turn around so that it isn't a lie,"

Sure enough, the older man turned around and looked away.

"Take care of yourself, out there," he said warmly.

Darkstar nodded and swallowed.

He took several deep breaths and felt his heart beat heavily in his chest. Without another word, he turned around and ran into the night as fast as his legs could carry him.


End file.
